Richard Freund

@thesamasher Thanks!

@RichardFreund13 @cepr_org @paulnovosad Yes, there's some funding available for LMIC applicants

📢Apply for the 25th Summer School in International and #Development #Economics: Economic Development in the Age of Big Data and #AI ⌛Deadline: 4 May 📆1-4 September | 📍Tuscany, Italy Lecturers: @thesamasher & @paulnovosad ow.ly/55T650Yyvse

UCT’s Emeritus Professor Murray Leibbrandt has been selected as an International Economic Association (IEA) Fellow for 2025 in recognition of his outstanding scholarly contributions. Read more: qr.codes/j5VTx6

@alexolegimas @paulnovosad @JesusFerna7026 This is consistent with our paper looking at the effects of a Coursera job training programme in Costa Rica in JDE: sciencedirect.com/science/articl… Interested to see if AI is any different - but many of the same selection issues seem similar

Ever since Coursera courses became very good, only to have basically no impact on higher ed, I've come to the belief that the biggest role of formal ed is to act as a commitment device for students to actually consume the information. AI will be transformative, but AI w/o that commitment element will likely lead folks like you and I to learn more efficiently (but we were going to do the learning anyway), and have little impact otherwise.

Is AI the biggest change in education since the printing press? Yes. This weekend, I decided to learn about the life and work of Erving Goffman purely out of personal interest. Goffman was one of the most influential sociologists of the 20th century and a professor at Penn. I had a few free hours after a tough week of travel and work, and thought it might be a good distraction. I asked Claude to prepare a study plan based on my professional background, prior knowledge, and the hours I had available: an introduction to Goffman’s life and work, selections from his best and most influential writings, and an examination of his impact on social theory. The plan was outstanding. A top expert on Goffman would likely have done better. A 90th percentile real professor of sociology would not have, or at least not without serious effort. As I read The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life (complete) and Asylums and Stigma (selections), I could ask Claude for clarification, connections to the wider literature, and links to material I already knew. The Q&A and the exploration of collateral ideas were so good that I ended up spending much more time than I anticipated. Last night I had to force myself to go to bed. Did Claude get everything right? Perhaps not, but neither do I in my own graduate seminars. Even in my areas of top expertise, I often do not answer students’ questions precisely or correctly. One should not compare Claude to the perfect professor but to a real one. And every answer I could verify (I checked many) was at least a solid A-. Am I an expert on Goffman now? Of course not. But I would say I am now familiar with an important thinker at the level a regular master’s course on modern sociological theory would produce in the week it dedicates to him. Doing the same work using Google alone would have taken much longer. I know because I have undertaken similar projects with other thinkers in the past. One had to spend considerably more time before reaching the core of the contribution. I can now imagine someone designing self-learning courses in many fields that are better than what you can get outside the very top universities, at close to zero marginal cost. Where does that leave a normal university? I do not know. But colleagues in departments that want to stop the spread of AI are deluding themselves. This type of technology does not come once a century. It comes once a millennium.

📢 New Publication! As tensions increase in N. #Ethiopia, YL evidence from the last war in #Tigray shows violence doesn’t just destroy lives & infrastructure – it erodes the trust between neighbours that's needed to rebuild & maintain peace. 🔗 younglives.org.uk/publications/l… #conflict

The freelancing sector is expanding, yet significant barriers persist. 🖥️ An entrepreneurial skills training program in El Salvador led to short-term gig success. However, after one year, freelancing comprised less than 4% of participants' income. What factors are limiting long-term sustainability? #GigEconomy #SkillsForWork Find out here: bit.ly/3ZQa8jB This impact evaluation by @rnovella13, @RichardFreund13, @VifazioH, in collaboration with IPA, @the_IDB, @WisarTR & @EconomiaSV, uncovers key insights.

@joshbudlender Thanks so much!

@RichardFreund13 will email you a pdf!

Zombie idea that just will not die. No, it is not true that “Stats SA doesn’t count self-employed people”. Take a look at any survey (Stats SA or others). Perhaps consider that maybe Stats SA & the people who study SA labour markets are not morons. businesslive.co.za/bd/economy/202…

Can online job training help young people break into digital work? A study in El Salvador found that a 12-week training increased initial freelancing success and participants were 54% more likely to get a contract! 📈 But long-term job prospects remained low. #FutureOfWork The impact evaluation was conducted by researchers @rnovella13, @RichardFreund13, @VifazioH, in collaboration with IPA, @the_IDB, @WisarTR and @EconomiaSV. More insights here: bit.ly/3ZQa8jB

Today's cool young researcher #econtwitter #econsky is @TimothyKohler @timkohler.bsky.social @DPRU_UCT who works on topics related to labor + development

Highly recommend applying for this opportunity! Fantastic conference in a brilliant place. A great opportunity to get feedback on your work, and there is funding for international speakers!

🏆 We are delighted that our Young Lives colleagues have been awarded the 2025 @oxsocsci Developing Impact Award for YL evidence directly informing legislative change to ban child marriage in Peru. Find out more: youtu.be/PQ6iK2_HVns?si… #SocialSciencesImpactAwards @ODID_QEH

@alehidalgoa @EconCath @singhalecon @alan_sanchezj Whooohooo!! 🎉

I’m delighted to share that our research on the inter-generational effects of Peruvian civil conflict is now available in JDE! It has been a blast to collaborate with @EconCath, @singhalecon & @alan_sanchezj on this study, which also plays a key role in my PhD journey.

@ARUA_ACEIR @SALDRU1 @MurrayLeibbrand @UCT_Research @ARUA_News @guildeu @UCT_news Congrats @MurrayLeibbrand!

Prof. Murray Leibbrandt from @SALDRU1 is one of the members of a new Africa Expert Panel that will help identify key priorities for the continent’s developmental interests in areas relevant to the work of the G20 Finance Track. Congratulations, Murray! bit.ly/4bNzaoi

Can public online courses build job skills which usually involve hands-on training? bit.ly/ipa21281 In Costa Rica, courses for COVID-19-affected workers didn't impact employment, but those who completed the course with no prior higher education were 11% more likely to enroll in formal education.

@MarshallBBurke @KhoaVuUmn @MartaFavara

Need high resolution daily air pollution data for India? We've got you. Great new work led by Ayako Kawano developing satellite+ML-based measures of PM2.5 going back decades, and using it to evaluate recent progress in improving air quality. science.org/doi/full/10.11…

@TimothyKohler @HaroonBhorat Congrats, Tim! Very well deserved 👏

A great way to end the year 🎉 My paper, co-authored w/ @HaroonBhorat, on the labour market effects of SA’s🇿🇦 SRD grant is now published in World Development. We began this work back in 2020. So happy it found a good home! Full (OA) paper here: sciencedirect.com/science/articl… 🧵below

We are thrilled to announce a NEW scholarship for DPhils carrying out quantitative economic research. The Urban Labour Markets in Africa Scholarship will be supervised by @kateorkin. ⏰ Apply by 9 Jan 2025! More details here ow.ly/KVrU50UhGH1 or here 👇

Fantastic position open. I can vouch that you’ll learn tonnes working with Kath, and you’ll have fun too!